One Bracelet to Rule Them All
by sunstarunicorn
Summary: Wordy's made his decision. Now it's time to break the news to the rest of the team. How will the team respond to the news that they won't have to find a new teammate after all? And what's up with the oddly familiar runes on Wordy's mithril bracelet? A Magical Flashpoint Side Story


Author note: This story is part of the Magical Flashpoint Side Story series. It follows "Contingency Plan" and comes before "Start Again".

Although all original characters belong to me, I do not own _Flashpoint_, _Harry Potter_, _Narnia_, or _Merlin_.

* * *

A spark of deviousness shone in Greg Parker's eyes as he stood in the briefing room, waiting for the rest of his team. Everything had been set up for the morning's brief, including a strategically placed video camera for the big reveal. The contents of Wordy's locker had been hastily moved to his van and the van itself parked in the visitor lot, rather than the employee parking lot. Wordy himself was just as gleeful over the impending prank, though he'd warned his boss about the inevitable payback. Greg actually considered that a _bonus_…it would let his team blow off steam and maybe even catch their collective breath.

The deviousness vanished as the Sergeant heard his constables coming. He adjusted his expression to be solemn and just a bit sorrowful as Ed entered the room, his shoulders slumping more than usual; the team leader was already feeling the sting of a lost teammate, even if only to a transfer. The rest of the team was just as subdued; for most of them, Wordy's transfer had come out of left field and they'd been hoping for a last minute save or maybe even a magical miracle. The team slid into their chairs without any of their usual banter and looked up at their boss, waiting for him to outline the schedule for finding a new team member.

Greg let the silence hang a moment or two, then he surveyed his team. "All right, guys, I know we were planning on selecting a new team member over the next couple of weeks, but it turns out we won't have to. Our new team member is already here."

"Already here?" Sam echoed incredulously, right before he sank down in his chair, clearly remembering his own entrance onto Team One.

Ed picked up the baton. "Greg, we _choose_ our teammates," he protested. "How do we even know this guy is fit for the SRU?"

"And how do we know he'll work with our team?" Jules questioned, her tone pointed.

"What about our _other_ calls, is he cleared for those?" Spike asked, with Lou nodding agreement in the background.

"He's already in the SRU, so, yes, Ed, he is fit for duty," Greg began. Switching to Jules, he added, "All of you are familiar with our new team member and I'm confident he'll work out just fine with our team."

"And magic-side?" Spike repeated.

Greg gave his bomb tech a significant look, then reminded his entire team, "I _am_ authorized to sign new members of the team onto the Official Secrets Act, so our magic-side calls are not at issue here."

Spike's expression turned sheepish as he realized _any_ new member of the team would have to deal with the magic-side calls and signing onto the Statute of Secrecy. Lou asked the next question. "Which team is this guy transferring from?"

He wasn't going to get a better cue than that – and Wordy obviously agreed, because the constable stepped into the briefing room and replied, "Team One."

Wordy grinned as his teammates gawped at him in utter astonishment; Greg's eyes danced with suppressed glee as the shock stretched. Then Spike and Lou acquired identical manic grins, Jules covered her mouth to suppress her laughter, Sam shook his head in amazement, and Ed pushed himself upright, eyeing Wordy up and down narrowly. "You're not transferring."

"Nope," Wordy confirmed.

Ed frowned. "And what about all that stuff you said…about how no one can do this job forever?"

Wordy fidgeted, focusing on his best friend. "It's still true, Ed," he replied. "And I _was_ going to transfer; I put in my paperwork and everything."

"So what happened?" Jules asked, leaning forward enough so that Wordy could see her around Ed.

"Sarge's kids," Wordy explained awkwardly, "They came up with something."

"Wordy," Greg intervened, "from the beginning." He pushed a free chair towards Wordy and waved Ed back down to his seat before taking himself and the packet of paperwork in front of him to the opposite end of the table.

So Wordy slid into the chair and started explaining the chain of events to his teammates. How, after the evals, he'd gone to get a medical and found out about his Parkinson's. The bombshell that there _wasn't_ a magical cure because Parkinson's didn't happen magic-side. Coming back to the SRU and telling his Sergeant about his diagnosis and what his health expectations had been.

How he'd gone on the meds and they'd helped for a while, but then, bit by bit, they hadn't been quite as effective, until it became obvious that he just couldn't keep up with SRU requirements. Not for much longer. The constable drew in a deep breath, then forced himself to keep going by admitting that Ed's actions had been the tipping point. Ed winced, but wisely kept his mouth shut.

"So you put in for a transfer," Sam summed up as Wordy stopped again. "What happened?"

A smirk flashed. "Got in the next morning, Sam, and Sarge had left a photocopy of my request in my locker. Denied."

Shocked looks flew to the serene Sergeant sitting at the bottom end of the table. "Why?" Jules questioned.

It was Wordy who answered. " 'Cause the kids had one last shot at this whole thing."

The team's heads swiveled back to Wordy. But Ed had already put the pieces together. "That's why your range scores shot up last week, isn't it?"

A nod.

"Why we even _had_ a slower week," Lou tacked on. "You were testing whatever they came up with."

Another nod.

Spike grinned, all but rubbing his hands together in glee. "What'd they do?"

Wordy reached out, setting his left arm down so the bracelet on it glittered in the briefing room lights. The blue runes glowed softly from within the silver-hued metal. "Short version: they made a healing bracelet that _bypasses_ my Parkinson's. I still have it, but all the symptoms are completely controlled."

"_All_ of them?" Jules blurted in shock.

Her teammate smirked. "So far," he confirmed. "My range scores are back up and Sarge put me through every brain twister he could find last week."

"Can we see it?" Sam requested, interest shining in his eyes.

"Sure," Wordy agreed, reaching for the bracelet's clasp.

Greg cleared his throat, halting Wordy's movements. "Let's not," he chided gently. "We're still in the middle of the second timed test."

Wordy jerked his hand back, chagrin flashing. "Copy, Sarge."

"Test?" Ed pressed at once.

"Ed, they finished this thing the same day I put in my transfer request," Wordy explained. "And, um, they couldn't do more than theoretical estimates on how long the power would last."

Ed snapped even more to attention. "This thing has power limits?"

Wordy didn't back down. He gestured to the bracelet with his free hand. "Ed, they had to _invent_ this. It's a _prototype_. Of _course_ it's got limits. But it _works_." He shrugged. "So what if the kids have to charge this thing every week, it still _works_." Sheepish, the brunet ducked his head and added, "If you guys want to check it out, I got no problem with that. Just has to stay put right now."

One by one, the curious constables swapped seats so they could get a good look at their teammate's new medical device. Ed didn't care _what_ the bracelet looked like, so long as it worked. Jules whistled low at the elegantly carved runes, running a gentle fingertip over them and wondering why they looked vaguely familiar. Sam, leaning over her shoulder, enjoyed the simple look of the overall bracelet. It reflected the light a little, but nothing serious; it wouldn't become a hazard on entry procedures.

Lou studied the runes more closely than Jules had, sure he'd seen them before _somewhere_, but, like Jules, he couldn't quite place them. "Looks good," he remarked, shifting out of the way so Spike could look.

"Yeah," Wordy agreed. "They did a great job."

"Where'd they get the runes?" Lou asked curiously.

Wordy shrugged with one shoulder, but held his arm still. "I didn't ask."

Both men – and their teammates – turned as Spike started laughing. "Spike?" Jules inquired.

The bomb tech doubled up as he laughed even harder, nearly falling off the chair in his mirth. When he got his breath back, he gasped out, "Lou, you don't recognize this?"

"No?"

Another chortle, then Spike's attention turned to a perplexed Wordy. "You know what that's from?"

Wordy shook his head, though he was beginning to sense an impending prank – or bombshell.

"_Lord of the Rings_," Spike replied gleefully. "You've got the One Bracelet to rule them all." He immediately broke out in snickers again.

"Sarge, is that true?" Jules pressed, amusement flashing across her face as Spike laughed even harder in the background. "Did the kids use runes from _Lord of the Rings_?"

Wordy traced the runes, remembering that the bracelet was _also_ mithril. Gray eyes flicked up to his Sergeant, who was paging through a packet of paper. "Sarge?"

"Sec." The team waited as Parker scanned the pages; Spike managed a near instantaneous recovery from his laughing fit, just as curious as his friends about what their boss was looking up. Then the Sergeant stopped, reading one section more carefully. "Tengwar."

"Huh?"

"What's that?"

Hazel eyes came up. "The writing, it's called Tengwar. The kids did all the healing phrases with Old Magic, then transcribed it into Tengwar to put it on the bracelet." A pause. "But Mr. Scarlatti, you are correct. Tengwar _is_ from _Lord of the Rings_."

Wordy whistled softly, running his eyes over the runes. "What about the outside, Sarge?"

"English," was the prompt response. "At least, according to _mio nipote_."

The prankster grinned, seeing _just_ how to get back at Spike. "Hey, Spike, maybe you're right," he teased.

"Right about what?" Spike questioned warily, seeing the teasing glint in his teammate's eyes.

The grin widened. "Maybe this _is_ the One Bracelet to rule them all," Wordy mused playfully.

Ed smirked and obliged. "Why's that, Word?"

Wordy shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, runes from _Lord of the Rings_. Magic from two Dark Lord wannabes…I mean, Wild Mages." Gray eyes danced as the constable finished, "_And_ it's made out of mithril. So maybe you're onto something there, Spike."

Spike's jaw dropped, his eyes nearly bugging out. "_Mithril!_ _You_ have a _mithril_ bracelet?"

The brunet's grin nearly split his face. "You missed one part," he teased. When Spike gave him a wide-eyed stare, Wordy airily corrected, "It's a _magic_ mithril bracelet."

Without missing a beat, Wordy turned his chair and gave his other teammates a hopeful look. "So, am I in? Am I on Team One?"

Snickers rose as Ed pretended to consider. "Don't know," Ed remarked thoughtfully. "Our last guy was pretty good on entry, how 'bout you?"

"I think I can match your last guy," Wordy responded, amping up his hopeful expression, drawing more suppressed sniggers from his friends.

Ed shifted back on his heels. "Our last guy, he was a steady kind of guy, great at backing up the team, and he was good enough to be our backup team leader. Think you can manage that?"

"Do my best," Wordy promised.

"You sure?"

"Absolutely."

For a moment, the two best friends stared at each other, outwardly serious even as their eyes shone with laughter. Then Ed broke into a smirk. "Okay, you got the job."

Wordy forced his eyes wide with mock astonishment. "Aren't you guys going to vote on it?"

His teammates traded looks, then Ed summed it up. "Nah, don't have to. Already did."

Greg chuckled openly as he shuffled the papers in front of him. "Wordy."

"Yeah, Sarge?"

The Sergeant slid the reassembled packet across the table. "That's for you, to give to your doctor and Healer."

"Copy that," Wordy acknowledged.

"I told _mio nipotes_ to keep it to the basics," Parker added. "If you'd like, they put together something a little more detailed for Team One's eyes only."

"Cool," Spike enthused.

"Now, get your van moved back to the usual lot and I'll help you get your stuff back inside."

"Got it," Wordy agreed, heading out and not noticing the silent communication between his teammates. When he pulled his van around, he was surprised when his entire team showed up to help cart his locker contents back into the station; his teammates even reassembled most of his locker for him, leaving only a few final details for him to do.

Ed was waiting for him, a contrite look in the team leader's eyes. Wordy lifted a hand. "Ed, don't. Just…don't do it again."

"I won't," Ed promised. Then he frowned. "Unless it's life or death."

Wordy choked on a laugh. "Noted."

"Anything I need to keep an eye out for?"

Wordy considered that as he put his photos back up. "If the runes stay blue, they last about five days," he finally replied. "Black means it's switched to emergency mode and the power's getting really low."

"Got it. Any other colors?"

"Green." Wordy focused on one of Lilly's drawings. "If the bracelet goes green, then it's gonna run out of power fast…that's the high mode."

"How fast?"

"An hour."

Ed whistled under his breath. "I'll pass that on, make sure everyone knows to keep an eye on that."

Wordy nodded, looking up from his last family photo. "Thanks, Ed." He gestured with the picture. "See you out there?"

The team leader nodded, understanding his friend's silent request. "Take your time, Word." He headed for the door, then paused and turned back. "Wordy?"

"Yeah?" Wordy asked, looking up from his locker again.

"Welcome back."

_~Fin_

* * *

Author note: I figured ya'll would like to see the Big Reveal of Wordy staying on Team One. I hope everyone enjoyed and we'll be heading back to the main storyline now. Our next story, "Start Again", will kick off on Tuesday, September 24th, 2019, right here in the main _Flashpoint_ archive.

See you on the Battlefield!


End file.
